Be the master of your own Insta-verse: how to manage multiple Instagram accounts

In February, Instagram finally gave the people what they’d been asking for: the ability to toggle between multiple accounts from directly within the Instagram app. Prior to this feature, users were at the mercy of second-party apps, many of which made it difficult jump from one account to the next. In the age of instant gratification, this was grossly inefficient. Now, Instagrammers have the ability to add up to five accounts, meaning you, your cat, your baby, and/or several inanimate objects in your life can each have a platform to express themselves. Although you may never accumulate as many followers as the official Queen of Instagram, Selena Gomez, you can still relish the moment when one of your photos receives that crucial 11th “like” and your general existence is momentarily validated.

That said, you’re well on your way to celebrity status if you utilize the steps outlined below. Remember, slow and steady wins the race, young tortoise. Rome wasn’t built in a day, although Taylor Swift’s KanTay 2020 photo did garner the equivalent population of Rome in likes in a day.

How to add an additional Instagram account(s)

Instagram has made the process simple enough. Once you launch the app, go to your profile and select the gear — or the three dots — in the upper-right corner of the screen. Then, scroll down, select “Add account,” and enter the desired username and password for the account you would like to add. If you’ve created several Instagram accounts, you will now receive push notifications from all accounts that have notifications activated. To see the notifications for each individual account, go to your profile page and select the username from the list.

How to switch between accounts:

At this point, you, your curmudgeonly cat, and your ill-fated terrarium each have their own Instagram account. Now you need to know how to toggle between the various accounts. Once you’ve launched the app, go to your profile page and tap your username at the top of the screen. You’ll then have the option to select from a list of accounts associated with your specific app. Select the account you’re attempting to manage before moving onto much more challenging questions — i.e. Nashville or 1977?

How to remove an account you’ve added:

OK, so the novelty has wore off and that newly-added account isn’t really panning out as planned. It happens to the best of us. Thankfully, it’s relatively easy to erase that old account and move on with other prospects. Once you’ve loaded your Instagram profile, select the gear icon — or the three dots — in the upper-right of the screen. Now, simply scroll down and select the “Log out of [username]” option. Logging out of an account will delete the account. If you’re over the Instagram game entirely and want to delete all of your accounts, you can also select “Log out of All Accounts” to do so. But don’t be too hasty, a quantum reality could easily be at stake. After all, if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to document it on Instagram, does it make a sound? It’s a good question.